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WindCreek Itta Bena

WIND CREEK ITTA BENA

IA Award of Merit

Itta Bena is the classic upstairs restaurant of the original BB King’s Club, named for his home town. Its hidden entry, haphazard feel and blue-hued atmosphere are well-known. Challenges included recreating that speakeasy look for fine dining at this BB King’s Casino, and embracing the blue tones while keeping the food and faces looking attractive.

The blue ambiance begins by recreating blue-tinted windows from the original restaurant, using blue LED strips around diffusion panes. The blue hue continues above the open rafters, filling in dark shadows with a theatrical twilight and saving the expense of tile.

A warm, romantic contrast to the blue was created using vintage iron-ring chandeliers that were left in their authentic, rough condition. These were equipped with customized moving-flame LED candles, which use a small flamelet reflector that is randomly tickled by an electromagnet for total realism. Over four-hundred of these were placed in wall niches, shelves and on the chandeliers.